The bathing of small babies, i.e. those of less than ten months of age and especially under six months requires a great deal of care and attention not only to clean and rinse, but also constantly to hold and stabilize them so they do not fall or slip. Many mothers bathe their babies in the kitchen sink because, being at arm level, they may be readily attended. Even in the kitchen sink, however, a baby who cannot sit erect for long unattended must normally be held constantly to prevent injury or submersion. It is especially difficult for an arthritic or handicapped person to hold the baby steady and bathe him or her at the same time. A number of workers in the art have attempted in the past to design safe and convenient devices or appliances which may be used by the mother in the bathtub or kitchen sink to help support a small child during bathing. For example, Walz, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,374, depicts an adjustable frame on which a baby bathtub or bathinette is to be placed for securing it to the top of a full-size bathtub. Stiphany discloses a similar bathing "tray" in U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,408. Sherman, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,167,849, illustrates a frame which may be folded for convenient storage, the frame being of a size for spanning a bathtub and having on it a "membrane" or sling in which the baby is suspended. See also Stadlman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,491,223, also emphasizing the storability of his design, and which is particularly adapted for use on a sink rather than a bathtub, and Pugh U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,809, for an infant's bath comprising a "rubberized fabric" suspended on a frame supported by folding legs; an elaboration of this approach is shown by Kennedy in U.S. Pat. No. 2,274,839. The reader may also be interested in comparing the infant carrier for an automobile disclosed by Stringer in U.S. Pat. No. 3,037,216, and the foldable infant's bath which is permanently attached to the wall above the standard tub, disclosed by Losada in U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,265.
Perhaps more nearly addressing the problems which we have faced is Gurolnick in U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,552--the bottom of the tray which supports the baby is designed to fit over and be restrained by the divider of a double sink so that it will not slip. As will be seen in the description below, we employ sponge rubber of the closed cell type as a coating on our frame to prevent it from slipping; while sponge rubber has been used, for example, as a pad in the "central recessed area" of Stiphany, and also by Pugh in a slightly different context, we are not aware of the use of sponge rubber to perform the dual purpose of preventing slippage of the frame and also cushioning the infant's head. Moreover, we have not discerned in the prior art a sling, trough, or pouch adapted to be so easily removed for cleaning as ours--it is sealed entirely with elements on the sling itself and no manipulation of the frame is required to remove it as in many of the above configurations. The "Velcro" seal we employ has been suggested for securing a pair of terry cloth gloves to be used in bathing infants--see U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,887 to White. The reader may also be interested in reviewing Kyle's U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,686, Parker U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,364 and Berard U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,660 mentioned below in the description of FIG. 2.